Volleyball Canada – May 24, 2016: Canada’s men’s volleyball team has its final chance to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games beginning this weekend in Tokyo, Japan.
 
“All the teams at this World Qualification Tournament will be determined and focused on the goal of securing the remaining men’s volleyball Olympic berths,” said Canada’s head coach, Glenn Hoag. “We are fully aware of the challenge that awaits us, and aim to make Canada proud of our performance at this important tournament.”
 
The FIVB Men’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament (WOQT) doubles as the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament. The highest ranked Asian team and the top three teams will qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 
 
Canada hosted the NORCECA Olympic qualification tournament in January in Edmonton, but came up short of a berth after losing its final match to Cuba to finish second and forcing a trip to Japan for the men’s WOQT.
 
Canada opens against 2014 World Champions, Poland, on May 28.  The round-robin tournament runs until June 05.
 
Schedule can be found here: http://worldoqt.japan.2016.men.fivb.com/
 
Live stream of the Men’s Olympic Qualifier will be available on the following https://www.youtube.com/user/videoFIVB 
 
Canadian Roster:
#1  TJ Sanders, London, ON
#2  Gordon Perrin, Creston, BC
#3  Dan Lewis, Oakville, ON
#4  Nicholas Hoag, Sherbrooke, QC|
#5  Rudy Verhoeff, Calgary, AB
#6  Justin Duff, Winnipeg, MB
#8  Adam Simac, Ottawa, ON
#10 Toon Van Lankvelt, Rivers, MB
#11 Daniel Jansen Van Doorn, Langley, BC
#12 Gavin Schmitt, Saskatoon, SK 
#17 Graham Vigrass, Calgary, AB
#19 Blair Bann, Edmonton, AB
#21 Jay Blankenau, Sherwood Park, AB
#22 Steven Marshall, Abbotsford, BC
 
Staff in Japan:
Julien Boucher – Team Manager
Glenn Hoag – Head Coach
Larry McKay – Asst. Coach 
Vincent Pichette – Asst. Coach 
Murat Haktanir – Statistician 
Mathieu Seguin – Therapist 
Jean-Sebastien Hartell – Therapist 
Hikaru Ohtani – Team liaison  
 

Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender
E-mail: jskender@volleyball.ca
Phone: 613.794.7676